It's OK to be nice sometimes

Listen, we at the VFA haven't been the most giving and loving types recently. We've given lists on teams we hate, we've talked rudely about Notre Dame, Tennessee and the BCS (a lot), and most recently, we've been happy to point out the foibles of the SEC, and of our other fans in general.

There's my buddy, Taylor Davis, who tells me that during his days at Middlebury College, it was simply "the done thing" to take a handicapped guy to the game (I asked him after Rick Reilly immortalized Butch in a 2003 article).

There's my buddy at Penn State who decided not to go to a game and give his ticket to a friend because his buddy might miss out.

There's the story of my friend Dan Deyo, who's out serving the country in the USA. Someone out there's created a 'Daniel Deyo Fan Club' on Facebook for him - and it's already got 351 members. And if you're a Penn State fan, make sure you sign up - he's Nittany Lions crazy! Oh, and he - and his family - are incredibly nice people. Just don't swear (trust me on this!).

And there's the story of this writer's many friends across the Atlantic, who have played 'Good Samaritan' to me just because I couldn't miss 'THAT' sporting event. You know who you are.

Oh, and give it up for people who are simply those guys. We're talking about the people who don't re-sell tickets to friends for more than face value, despite knowing they could get - at times - hundreds more and there's a recession on hands. We're talking about the hundreds of student athletes who don't lie, cheat, break the law, or steal during their time at college and are not even talked about in the press. We're talking about the coaches who make sure their kids get the grades they should do. And also, we're talking about the thousands of volunteers who raise money for school sports that aren't football or basketball.

And it's OK to root for someone even though you're not their biggest fan or the biggest fan of their team. It's OK to pray for Phil Mickelson and Rocco Mediate, whose wives are struggling with cancer and kidney disease. It's OK to smile when Frank Lampard, a midfielder in the Premiership soccer league, points to the heavens after scoring a goal in an effort to acknowledge the memory of his dead father, Frank Sr.

Oh, and if you've got any "good guy stories" in college sports - from the athletes to the fans, then let the VFA know and we'd be pleased to publish your responses on our website at a later date.